


Against the Wind

by TheLittleRedWhoCouldWrite



Series: Sam Winchester Reader-inserts [14]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: F/M, Reader-Insert, hurt!reader
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-17
Updated: 2016-09-17
Packaged: 2018-08-15 13:01:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8057389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLittleRedWhoCouldWrite/pseuds/TheLittleRedWhoCouldWrite
Summary: Prompt: "Against the Wind" by Bob Seger for @teamfreewill-imagine





	Against the Wind

**Author's Note:**

> Set in Season 9, after Gadreel gets kicked out of Sam.

_“Shit!”_

_Dean looks at Y/N in faux surprise. “Wow. Such harsh language.”_

_“Shut up,” she growls, gripping desperately at Sam’s shirt and hand while he helps her stand. She gasps when her torso twists a little before she manages to steady herself._

_“Sorry,” Sam says. “Are you okay?”_

_“I’ll be fine,” she assures him, fingers still wrapped around his. “Let’s just get back to the hotel. I want a long shower and a massage. That ghost screwed up my back big time.”_

_Dean opens his mouth, probably to make another smart-ass comment, but Sam glares and his brother stays quiet._

_Suddenly Y/N gasps, eyes going wide and body jerking. Sam is helpless as he sees the second ghost for the first time and the shovel it threw at Y/N’s spine._

_“No,” he manages, catching her as she begins to crumple. “No, no, no-”_

* * *

“Sam, wake up!”

Sam’s eye snap open to see Dean standing over the bed, looking concerned.

“What’re you looking at?” the younger man grumbles, rolling so his back is to his brother.

“My pain in the ass little brother,” Dean replies. “You were hollering up a storm. I thought the nightmares about Y/N had stopped.”

“They had,” Sam says. “Now they’re back. And don’t say her name.”

“Sam-”

“Go away, Dean.”

Sam knows he’s being unreasonable. Dean’s just trying to help. But that’s the problem. He’s always trying to help and he never thinks about what Sam has to say. What Sam wants.

“Cas hasn’t found a lead on Metatron,” Dean says when Sam finally gets out of bed and begins digging through his duffel for clean boxers. “But I found us a hunt.”

“Okay,” Sam says flatly.

“How about I go get food and tell you after?”

“Sounds fine to me.”

Dean lingers, like he wants to say more, but decides against it.

As soon as Sam hears the motel room door click shut, he leans against the nearest wall and forces himself to take a deep breath. He hasn’t dreamt about Y/N’s death in years.

He’s clearing out his email when Dean returns with two McDonald’s bags and a cup of orange juice. Sam takes his food and the juice with a “thanks.” Dean sighs, but doesn’t say anything.

Sam wants to feel bad for how cruel he’s being to Dean, but he can’t bring himself to. Not after what Dean did. So he eats his breakfast wraps in silence.

* * *

_Y/N’s face is contorted in pain as Sam brushes the hair off her face. Dean has burned the last remains of the ghost and cleaned up. All they can do now is wait for the ambulance._

_“Shh,” Sam murmurs, gripping her hand. “You’re going to be okay.”_

_“Sam,” she gasps, gazing up at him with tear-filled eyes. “_ Sam _.”_

_“I’m here,” he reassures her. “I won’t leave you.”_

_He can hear sirens now._

_“Just a little longer,” Dean says, slamming the trunk of the impala shut. “We were visiting a family grave when a man attacked us. We never saw his face. Okay?”_

_Sam nods as flashing lights fall over them. Paramedics pull him away, expertly analyzing the situation and responding. They get Y/N strapped into a stretcher._

_“Sam!” she cries as they begin to lift her into the ambulance and paramedic stops Sam from following. She twists in the straps despite her injuries. “No! Sam!”_

_“Just let him in,” one of the other paramedics says._

_They instruct him to sit by her head and keep her calm. He holds her face in his hands and talks to her, telling her about all the things they’re going to do when she’s better._

_“When we get to the hospital, we’re going to have to split up,” he says, gently wiping away a tear with his thumb. “I’ll see you as soon as I can, okay? The doctors are going to take good care of you.”_

_“Don’t leave me,” she whimpers._

_“I’ll be in the waiting room,” Sam promises. “I won’t leave the hospital and I’ll come see you as soon as they let me.”_

_Y/N sobs, the sound tearing at Sam’s heart. The last thing he wants to do is let some total strangers separate them, but he has no choice._

* * *

“Earth to Sam,” Dean says, reaching over to wave a hand in front of his brother’s face.

Sam startles and glares. “What?”

“You’ve been staring out the window for almost twenty minutes. I can guarantee the scenery is not that exciting.”

The younger Winchester makes a face and turns to face the window again.

“Where’re we headed again?” Dean asks in what’s probably an attempt to break the tension in the car.

“Summerfort, Ohio,” Sam replies without even looking at the map spread across his lap.

“Isn’t that where we last saw Y/N?”

“Maybe,” is all Sam says. Dean doesn’t get anything else out of him for the rest of the drive.

* * *

_“Leave me alone, Sam.”_

_“Y/N,” he says, crouching beside the wheelchair the doctors say she will be confined to for the rest of her life._

_“I don’t want your pity, Sam.”_

_“I’m not pitying you, sweetheart.”_

_“Liar. Look at me. I’m useless. I’ll never be able to hunt again. I’m dead weight.”_

_“Y/N, you’re not-”_

_“Just go, Sam. And don’t ever come back.”_

_“You don’t mean that-”_

_She turns a steady gaze on him and looks him right in the eye when she says, “I do mean it.”_

_Sam’s suffered a large variety of injuries in his lifetime, including actually dying, but nothing he’s ever experienced hurts as much as those words do._

_“Okay,” he murmurs, rising and backing away. “Okay, I’ll… go.”_

* * *

Sam never thought he would see this town again. Not much has changed over the almost decade since they were last here. There’s the big brick hospital right next door to the police station. There’s a new police chief and he doesn’t recognize the boys, though a few of the older cops give them curious looks.

Dean leads the way, taking charge of the case. They interrogate the single witness to what Sam’s pretty sure is a ghost attack. The poor girl is traumatized, but Sam assures her that they’ll find the person behind the attack.

They split up after the morgue. Sam heads for the library while Dean goes to investigate the scene of the attack.

The library has been upgraded a little on the inside, with nicer tables and shelves, and more places to sit.

He wanders in what he thinks is the direction of the books he needs, but apparently they rearranged and he has no idea where to even start.

“Can I help you with anything, sir?”

The familiar voice is simultaneously wonderful and painful to hear. He turns to look down at the woman in a wheelchair. She’s aged nicely, the years evident in the laughter lines around her eyes, and Sam thinks she’s just as beautiful as the day he first met her.

“Sam,” she says, suddenly quiet.

“Hi, Y/N,” he replies.

“You’re here for the hunt?” Y/N asks. “They moved the books. Come on, I’ll show you.”

He follows her without a word, a little awed as she expertly navigates the narrowest of places in her chair. She comes to a halt in front of the section of books he needs.

“Here you go,” she says. “I’ll be at the front desk if you need any more help.”

Sam nods. She turns to go, but he stops her with a careful hand on her shoulder. “Y/N-”

“My shift ends at four, if you would like to go get coffee,” Y/N tells him without waiting for him to actually ask, bright eyes gazing up at him. “I’ve missed you, Sam.”

He smiles a small smile. “I’ve missed you, too.”

“I hear you saved the world again. You’ll have to tell me about it, okay?”

“Okay,” Sam manages.

He watches her go, and suddenly feels like all those years on the road and everything that’s happened to him have been worth something after all.


End file.
